CYO will honor Judy Trancucci next week for a career well done

Staten Island Advance file photoJudy Trancucci is flanked by Joe Panepinto, left, who hired her to work for the CYO, and Tony Navarino, who succeeded her as CYO County Director.It’s been about 27 years since Judy Trancucci walked into then-Staten Island CYO County Director Joe Panepinto’s office looking for a job as a referee, but to Panepinto it seems like yesterday.

"I told her she looked familiar and she told me her father was Sonny Grosso," said Panepinto. "I asked her, ‘Why refereeing?’ ¶

"She starts explaining her husband’s working, I think it was for New York Telephone at the time and her son is playing baseball for Moore Catholic and she wanted to make some extra money to go on a team trip to Florida."

Trancucci got that job as a referee, but after a year or so, couldn’t continue after sustaining a back injury in a car accident.

"She couldn’t ref anymore," continued Panepinto. "So I asked her to come work with me in the office. I told her drop off the kids to school and work for a few hours a day."

Little did Trancucci know that a few hours a day would turn into countless hours a week for the next quarter-century.

In that span, she was a part-time secretary and full-time assistant to Panepinto in the County Director’s office; succceeded Panepinto as County Director; became assistant director for the Archdiocese of New York’s CYO program; and Director of Operations for the CYO Archdiocese of New York, her current job.

Trancucci’s tenure as a full-time CYO employee, however, will come to an end with her retirement May 28. Trancucci will be recognized with a special tribute for her years of service at the fourth annual Staten Island CYO Advisory Board Community Recognition Celebration on May 26 (7 p.m.) at the CYO-MIV Center in Pleasant Plains.

"I have mixed emotions (about retiring)," said Trancucci, who will receive the CYO "Special Recognition" Award. "I’ve actually been with the CYO for 25 years in a full-time capacity.

"I’m going to miss everybody. I love what I do — working with parishes, coordinators and, of course, the kids.

"It’s really been a wonderful journey for me, but I’m slowing down a little bit and I’ve got (six) grandchildren that I want to spend more time with."

Trancucci, who will move to New Port Richey, Fla., upon her retirement, will remain with the CYO as a consultant.

"Everybody loves Judy and she’s the kind of person you don’t replace," said Panepinto, currently the executive director of Staten Island Catholic Charities. "She’s the kind of person who was always a step ahead because she always cared.

"CYO is not a job, it’s a lifestyle that includes weekends, nights and holidays," continued Panepinto. "You could always reach Judy 24-7."

"She brought a lot of passion to the kids of Staten Island," said Tony Navarino, who replaced Trancucci as County Director in 2000. "She worked every day with her heart and soul. She made an impact on each and every child, not just the parishes, and she’ll truly be missed."

Trancucci said she experienced a lot of proud moments during her tenure, but remembered a specific one that took place around 1992.

"One of the things I’m most proud of is we became one of the first organizations that did background checks on our coaches and officials," she said. "(Former District Attorney Bill Murphy) supported it and eventually, other organizations started implementing it."

"She’s a wonderful lady who is like a sister to me," concluded Panepinto. "I wish her well. (The special tribute) is well deserved."